1 year!!

It is so hard to believe that my baby girl is a year old!!!  This year has been a year to remember! We have learned so much and have really enjoyed being parents.  Yes there have been days when we want to scream but I wouldn't trade those days for anything!  We celebrated her birthday on Saturday and it was a pink elephant theme.  We were so blessed by everyone who came and loved on our sweet girl.  I cried when we started to sing Happy Birthday, so hard to believe its been a year, and she was just smiling away!  She wasnt to fond of her cake, but she did enjoy racking it in her lap!  Here are a few pics of her special day!  Thanks to everyone who came we love you all!

Peyton's invitation

Her food was all so good!

The cake was amazing!!!

Playing with her cake

Her monogrammed napkins =)

Happy Birthday baby girl!!!

The last 8 months

Where do I even begin on these last 8 months.  My precious baby girl has completely melted our hearts!  She is the absolute best thing that has ever happened to John and myself.  I love being a Mommy and I'm so happy she is mine! In these last 8 months she has changed so much.  She  can roll and crawl all over the house, she loves sitting her highchair and eating all the yummy baby foods. I don't know who can eat more her or her daddy ;). She pulls up on everything and likes for you to hold her hand and walk her around.  She now gets excited when she sees her Mommy or Daddy and kicks her little feet in glee.  She smiles and laughs all the time! She can say Mama and
Da-Da. She has flown on her 1st plane and traveled to Alaska like a champ!  She sits up on her own and can hold her own bottle. She has 2 little teeth that have just popped through.  It's just amazing how much she can do from the 1st time we brought her home from the hospital.  I remember staying up late at night just to make sure she was ok...I still sneak in her room to make sure she is breathing ;). I love watching her explore all the new things around her, its amazing what you notice through the eyes of a child.   She is absolutely the best baby in the world!! I'm so lucky to be her Mom and like I've said a million times you never know true love til you become a parent. I've only known this little baby girl for 8 & 1/2 months but I would do anything in the world for her! I love her more and more everyday!

Heart Break

As I tucked my sweet baby girl in tonight, I found myself not wanting to put her down. I just held her and cried for all the Moms and Dads in Conn. who weren't able to do the same tonight. My heart breaks for these families who lost a child, a family member, a spouse, or friend. I think of my daily routine like many other moms we wake up, get our kids ready, and drop them off at school, daycare, or some other form of child care. I always tell Peyton ill see you later sweet P, and I can't even imagine not being able to see her later. As a parent the love you have for your children is indescribable. I'm saddened for the parents who are having to plan funerals for their child just 11 days before Christmas. I think of the siblings who are grieving over losing their brother or sister.
My mind wanders to these sweet children who were involved in this horrific event. Who at this age love going to school, loves their teacher, enjoys learning about new things, who gets excited about field trips and science projects. Will these kids ever want to set foot in a school again? Will they ever fill safe again? This man not only stole the lives of 20 little angels he also stole the innocence of these children who are left with painful scars of the day.
My prayers go out to these families and I pray for the school as they recover from such a sad day. Hold your babies tight tonight and thank God that you can.

Labor and Delivery

Well where to begin... I went to my last appt on Monday April 2nd to check on Peyton and go over last minute instructions for our induction on Thursday. On April 4th I got a call from St. Vincent's saying that they did not have any rooms available for my scheduled induction. I was heart broken not knowing what was going on. We were told we would be put on stand by and to call in the morning when we woke up to check on the status.  John and I walked around our neighborhood twice just talking about how our life was fixing to change forever =)  Well as you can imagine we didn't sleep that much and I got up and called the nurse around 6 am.  She said it didn't look good but took my number and would call to update me through out the day as to when we could come in. John and I decided to make the most our of the day and ran errands, and enjoyed the day together before we got the phone call. The nurse called around 2 and told us to come in at 8 that night and we would have a room and start the process :). John and I ate dinner and ran by his dads house. We got to St. Vincent's a lil before 8 and got a huge birthing suite, which made me very happy!! I had to get in my gown and jump in the bed. Our 1st nurse was so sweet, she had a hard time getting my IV in though =(  She tried to get the IV in my right arm but blew 2 veins.  This was pretty painful!! Luckily the left arm worked like a charm :). I slept off and on through out the night, just nervous about what was to come. They came in at midnight and started a low dose of pitocin. Once they started it I wasn't allowed to get out of the bed :(. Dr. Estes came in at 6:30 and broke my water and uped the pitocin. Dr. P came in to check on me around 7:30. My contractions started up and the nurse said it was time for my epidural.  I thought it was a lil early for my epidural and the nurse asked me if I could see my contractions on the screen.  I said I couldnt see them but they were tolerable which made her and John laugh.  I kept telling them I had a high tolerance for pain little did they know I was telling the truth ;)  I was scared to get the epidural but it was actually not that bad.  Dr. P came in around 10:30 am and said was time to push.  John said now!!  We were both shocked at how quickly things were moving, but 9 pushes later Peyton was born.  It was the easiest delivery ever!  I never knew how much I could love this lil girl who had just entered my life but it is a feeling you cant even describe.  She is healthy, happy, and we fall more in love with her daily!

We are so close!!!

Well we are now in the teens =)  Peyton should be here within the next 19 days, and Mommy and Daddy are so excited!! 
These past few weeks have flown by!!  My girls at dance threw me a baby shower last Tuesday and I must say Peyton will be one snappy dresser thats for sure.  We have some of the sweetest friends!!

I went to the doctor last Thursday and I was already 1cm dialated =).  John thinks she will be here before the end of March but Im still hoping for my lil April baby.  We will find out tomorrow if Im any closer or if we need to keep her in there longer.  My doctor has also recommended that I stay off my feet more, so I now have shorter hours at work which is a blessing.  The swelling has started and that is no fun, I cant even wear my rings anymore which make me pretty sad.  I packed our hospital bags last night and it just became so real.  We will be parents in the next few weeks and we couldnt be more excited!  I will tell you now that her daddy is a baby hog, so you will have to just take her away from him if you want to hold her ;)

Well hopefully the next time I post we will know when Peyton is coming or she will be here =)

Best Birthday ever!!

  Well I turned 29 on the 23rd of February which is scary to think that Ill be 30 next year!!  So John took the whole day off so we could spend it together.  He never has off days during the week so that was a gift in itself.  He woke me up by cooking me pancakes which I love, he fixed everything for me and wouldnt let me get up to touch a thing.  We then went to 4D Mommies to have our 4D ultrasound to see Miss Peyton.  She is precious just like we thought she would be, and I have a feeling she is going to look just like her daddy =).  She kept her face hidden most of the time which she always has in ever ultrasound, and she was not very cooperative.  I say she is already stubborn like her daddy.  From there he took to the cheesecake factory so I could get a piece of their famous red velvet cheesecake....it is to die for!!!  We didnt eat there cause we were off to our next surprise on the to do list.  John then took me to Driver's Way to test drive a Ford Edge he had found that he thought I would love.  Well I loved it, and we ended up signing papers on it that day.  I then had to rush off to dance.  There is a lil girl in my class who has the same birthday as me, so we had a joint birthday party at dance.  We ran through our dances and then we had cupcakes, and ballet chocolate bars it was so much fun!  After dance John had one last surprise we went and picked up my car and we went to eat at P.F. Chang's with my fam.  If you know John he doesnt like Chinese/Japanese food at all so this was something sweet he did all for me. He also got me 2 birthday cards 1 from him and 1 from Peyton.  They both made me cry, it was the sweetest cards ever!!   I told him at the end of the day that I didnt know how we was going to top this birthday and he said "Ahhh Im sure Peyton and I can come up with something ;)" 

3rd Trimester

Hello 3rd Trimester I have been looking foward to you =).  So this pregnancy has all of the sudden flown by!!
  The 1st trimester saw its ups and downs with morning sickness in weeks 5-8, and then was followed by a kidney stone which is by far the worst pain you can imagine.  John and I got to see our lil peanut for the 1st time and it was as if nothing else in the world mattered.  We just stared at the screen imagining what he/she would look like, and got a lil teary eyed at our small miracle.  We counted each week looking forward to the next knowing each week would bring us more peace of mind.
  The 2nd trimester was perfect.  I was able to enjoy more foods, got a little more energy back and finally felt her move.  It took awhile before I could feel her move due to the placement of my placenta, but now we can feel and see her kick all the time.  She is most active around 10:30 which means she will be a night owl like her Mama.  She loves her daddy already its crazy!!  When I get home from work and start talking to John about our day and we begin cooking dinner she goes crazy.  It is by far the sweetest thing to see her kick in delight at the sound of her daddy's voice.  We have proved this theory over and over again.  People will say I want to feel her kick and John will come talk to my stomach and there she goes.  He bought a house so she would have a place to call her home and have been working on her nursery in our spare time.
  Now we are looking into the 3rd trimester.  This will bring about finishing her nursery, our baby shower at the end of this month, and finally getting to meet our lil blessing.  Ill post pics of the shower, the nursery, and anything else exciting that happens in the next couple weeks.